Vanessa LeAnn Drummond

Vanessa LeAnn Drummond, born at 6:39 p.m. Aug., 19, 2018 weighing six pounds, five ounces and 19 inches long at Redding Midwifery to Bryce and Suzanne Drummond, passed away from SIDs at 9:50 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2019, at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff. Only the third girl born in the Drummond line in at least the last five generations, her parents had spent numerous years hoping for a daughter before finding out they were pregnant with her. Her life was constantly celebrated and will continue to be. In the short four and a half months of her life, she was able to become a princess for Halloween, an angel at Christmas and brought joy to everyone who knew her. Her laugh and smile were contagious and she had so much adopted family at the bowling alley through the Wednesday night league. She loved her older brothers, David and Toby, and her brothers loved her. She could sleep through anything from a shopping trip to Redding during the holiday season to a trip to San Francisco. So small at birth she could fit in a catcher's mitt, she was a feisty red-head with eyes that looked into your soul. Post-card beautiful, the Gerber baby had nothing on her. She loved party lights and all music, but her favorite song was baby shark. Always a good baby, saying she was a perfect baby was an understatement. She was easy going and molded so easily into the family it felt as if she had been a part of it for years. While not a morning person and not a fan of having pictures taken, she was intensely curious about her surroundings and always wanted to see what everyone else was doing, always wanting to be facing forward in her carrier and when her dad leaned around her to try and catch a glimpse of a football game, she'd lean too, blocking his view. If Bryce and Suzanne could say one thing to parents and families, it'd be to hug your kids, love life and be goofy with them. They'd also like to say thank you to the community for their outpouring of support and love. Vanessa, whose name means butterfly, is preceeded in death by her grandpa, the late Doyle Castor, and her uncle, Bryan Castor. In addition to her parents and siblings, she leaves behind her grandparents Rose Castor and Jeff and Michelle Drummond; great-grandparents Elmer Castor, Pat Drummond, Ed and Linda Drummond and Johnson Lee; Uncles Russell Castor and Derrek Drummond and numerous cousins, extended family and friends. There will be a viewing, for anyone who would like to attend on Friday Jan. 11th from 5 to 8 p.m. at Chapel of the Flowers on Walnut Street in Red Bluff. A funeral service is planned for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, at Red Bluff Presbyterian Church, 838 Jefferson St., with a celebration of life to follow immediately after. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations for a memorial garden to honor her.

Published in Daily News on Jan. 9, 2019